Bitcoin mining on punchcards with an IBM 1401 computer. “To mine a block at current difficulty, the IBM 1401 would take about 5×10^14 years (about 40,000 times the current age of the universe). The electricity would cost about 10^18 dollars. And you’d get 25 bitcoins worth about $6000,” he wrote. “Performance was worse than I […]

[TL;DR: The new crypto-economic paradigm is gaining momentum, and efforts are large enough for specialised services to start appearing, and to compete with each other. The blockchain movement needs these services in place to succeed – and more. What services are essential though? And which ones have developed, and which are yet to emerge?] What’s […]

Technical bleeding edge stuff is fun, but it’s the new economic and social models that really get me going. “Off-grid” is starting to merge and encompass groups going “off-society” as well, mainstream-wise. Groups like this Michigan farm running local produce schemes with Bitcoin. Forms of value are innovative in themselves – it’s a constant world […]

The last week has seen not one but two Bitcoin ATMs appear in Brighton, along with the promise of being able to buy coffee for BTC soon too. I jumped at the chance to try the machines out, of course: Graham from @bitcoinBrighton buying some bitcoin with our new ATM! pic.twitter.com/qxKGT1hLFL — Futurecoins (@futurecoins) August […]

Tried to post this a while back, but Google codejuice didn’t want to talk to WordPress. Meh. Anyway. Back at the start of July I gave a talk to the Brighton Three Thinker’s business club about Bitcoin and what it meant for businesses. The crowd was very enthusiastic, the talk went well, and the chat […]

So it’s been quiet round here recently – a lot of my attention has been taken up with bitcoinbrighton.com and sorting out meetups. It’s a hard life. Posts have been building up, so expect a bit of a flurry while the pipes clear through a bit… Speaking of meetups, the next Brighton Bitcoin meetup is […]